IN BRIEF

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Public Meeting to Address Columbia Heights Project

The D.C. Department of Transportation will have a public meeting on the Columbia Heights streetscape project from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at Tubman Elementary School, 2301 13th St. NW. Preliminary work on the project began in the summer.

Construction on the Park Road NW portion, between Mount Pleasant and 14th streets, began Nov. 10 and is expected to last about six months. This phase includes a public plaza and interactive fountain to be built at Triangle Park, at 14th Street and Park Road.

The second phase, scheduled to begin in August, will reconstruct 14th Street NW from Newton Street to Columbia Road and Irving Street NW between 14th and 16th streets.

English- and Spanish-speaking staff members will be at the meeting to brief residents and answer questions. Tubman Elementary is three blocks north of the U Street/Cardozo Metro station and can be reached by Metrobus routes 52, 53 and 54.

Registration is Open For Winter Break Camps

The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation will host winter break camps for children ages 6 to 13 from Dec. 22 to 26, at 10 centers across the District. Camps will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be no camp Dec. 25.

The registration fee is $25. Participants must bring a bag lunch. Information is available by calling 202-671-0295 or e-mailing dprcamps@dc.gov.

Daily activities will include arts and crafts sessions in which youths will make holiday ornaments, wrap gifts and create holiday cards for children in hospitals. Among the other activities are holiday games to promote physical activity, reading time at the library, a holiday movie, scavenger hunts and journal writing.

Participants must register in person at any of these sites:

Bald Eagle Recreation Center, 100 Joliet St. SW; Banneker Recreation Center, 2500 Georgia Ave. NW; Fort Davis Recreation Center, 1400 41st St. SE; Hillcrest Recreation Center, 3100 Denver St. SE; Lamond Recreation Center, 20 Tuckerman St. NW; Palisades Recreation Center, 5200 Sherier Place NW; Riggs-LaSalle Community Center, 501 Riggs Rd. NE; Sherwood Recreation Center, 640 10th St. NE; Turkey Thicket Community Center, 1100 Michigan Ave. NE; and Watkins Recreation Center, 420 12th St. NE.

Housing Officials Seek Comments on HUD Plan

The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development is seeking public comment on a proposal for the $2.8 million in neighborhood stabilization funding designated for the District by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Under HUD guidelines, the funding may be used for activities related to financing, purchase and rehabilitation of abandoned and foreclosed homes, as well as for the demolition of blighted structures and the redevelopment of vacant properties.

D.C. residents can comment at a meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at the Greater Washington Urban League, 2901 14th St. NW.

Copies of the streetscape plan are available by calling Pamela Hillsman at 202-442-7251. Comments also can be submitted by e-mail to nspplan@dc.gov or by mail to DHCD, Attention: Will Warren, 801 North Capitol St. NE, Suite 8000, Washington, D.C. 20002. Comments must be received by Nov. 28.

Social Services Fair Set For Low-Income Residents

National Student Partnerships and the Perry School Community Services Center are co-sponsoring a social services fair for low-income D.C. residents tomorrow.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Boys and Girls Clubhouse No. 2, 120 M St. NW. Eighteen community organizations, including Bread for the City, College Bound, DC Central Kitchen and DC Saves, will have representatives to offer résumé advice, job interview preparation, basic computer and e-mail tutorials, introductions to financial literacy, and information on nutrition counseling, health insurance and youth programs.

National Student Partnerships operates a network of resource centers, staffed by college and university student volunteers. Students work with low-income community members, providing intensive on-site and referral services that help clients with employment, affordable housing, health care, child care and other services. For information, go to http://www.nspnet.org.

Perry School Community Services Center, a nonprofit corporation, provides social services to low-income residents of the North Capitol Street area.

-- Compiled by TERENCE McARDLE